If you attended an IMAX or IMAX 3-D showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, then, unless they lost the film reel, you probably saw the first nine minutes of next summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness. You can watch all of the International Announcement trailers (the Japanese subtitled one has an extra fifteen seconds) and last week’s new teaser that is, minus the voiceover at the beginning and a bit of new material, virtually the same thing, here. In the following paragraphs, I’ll describe the nine minute exclusive and share my thoughts on it.The IMAX exclusive begins with an African-American couple whose daughter is in the hospital. The start is rather abrupt with an alarm going off and the entire shebang is very teasery, so I suspect that this might not be the first nine minutes, just a nine minutes towards the beginning. But whenever the sequence takes place, it’s miraculously good. No, not good. It’s great. Abrams uses the opening scene to introduce the villain: Benedict Cumberbatch’s…er, villain. The exact antagonist that Cumberbatch will play has not been revealed but rumors that he might be Khan have spread at light-speed. (Is that Star Wars or Star Trek?) Anyway, Cumberbatch is only in the trailer for less than a minute, but at least we get a glimpse of him.

The remainder of the trailer is the Enterprise crew’s journey to save a species that will die if not saved, because of an erupting volcano. Abrams and his technical crew are all very skilled at the technology and I got a feeling watching this trailer. I witnessed visual effects that felt new. They didn’t feel like something I had seen in hundreds of other films. No, this felt new and unique, especially the 3-D. I prefer 3-D not in my face at every moment, but instead merely popping out at key moments which is much more powerful. The latter is exactly what Abrams does here, and it works perfectly. There are two moments in particular that use the 3-D wonderfully. The first is when Kirk and fellow crew member, Bones, are being chased by an alien species on an island. The aliens fire arrows which land square in your face. The second moment is when Kirk and Bones escape from the aliens by jumping off the edge of the island (more like a mountain), which just so happens to be a five-hundred foot drop.

Moments like these are moments that are truly magical on the silver screen and most especially on the massive IMAX screen. Anybody who is think of seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in IMAX 3-D should definitely do so, and not just to see the film. This exclusive trailer is worth the extra few dollars. You don’t only get a glimpse of what could be a potential summer blockbuster. You also get a glimpse into the future of visual effects…